Andy Reid coaching rumors heat up

Former Glendale Community College football player and Philadelphia Eagles Coach Andy Reid has reportedly interviewed for the Kansas City Chiefs and Arizona Cardinals coaching positions.

Former Glendale Community College football player and Philadelphia Eagles Coach Andy Reid has reportedly interviewed for the Kansas City Chiefs and Arizona Cardinals coaching positions. (Courtesy of Miles Kennedy/Associated Press)

Jeff Tully

Andy Reid is apparently a hot commodity when it comes to open jobs in the NFL.

Only days after being fired by the Philadelphia Eagles on Monday, the former Glendale Community College player is rumored to be in the running for two new coaching positions.

Just Tuesday, Reid was thought to be heading to Arizona to take over the struggling Cardinals organization. Media outlets are reporting that Reid has an interview with Cardinals management Thursday. ESPN even reported that there was a “95%” chance Reid would be the Cardinals next head coach, but the broadcasting giant has recently backpedaled from that statement.

The Cardinals denied that Reid would be introduced at the organization’s coach and said that he was only a candidate.

“I'm 99% sure that reports of a deal being 95% done are 100% incorrect,” Cardinals vice president of media relations Mark Dalton tweeted.

The Cardinals also confirmed a meeting Wednesday with current defensive coordinator Ray Horton, who also met with management on Tuesday.

However, in the wake of that news, reports surfaced Wednesday that the 54-year-old Reid would be meeting with the Kansas City Chiefs later in the day in Philadelphia to discuss that team’s opening coaching position.

There was also speculation during the season that if Reid were to be let go by the Eagles, he could be in line for the San Diego Chargers position. The Chargers dismissed former coach Norv Turner on Monday.

“It doesn’t surprise me in the least that he’s getting that kind of attention from other teams,” said former Glendale college football coach and athletic director Jim Sartoris, who coached Reid with the Vaqueros. “If you judge what Andy’s done over his entire career it would be hard to beat trying to find another coach with his caliber for a job. He is a coach that teams know has a great chance at leading them to success,”

Reid, who played football at Glendale college from 1976-77, was let go by Philadelphia after his team posted a 4-12 record and failed to qualify for the playoffs this season. The Eagles closed out their season Sunday with a 42-7 road loss against the rival New York Giants. It was a disappointing season for a franchise — which opened the season 3-1 — that was expected to compete for a Super Bowl championship.

Reid, a former NFL Coach of the Year, left the Eagles organization after serving as head coach for 14 seasons. He led the Eagles to nine playoff appearances, winning six division crowns and reaching five NFC Championship Games. Philadelphia lost to the New England Patriots in the 2004 Super Bowl.

Reid is still under contract with the Eagles through the 2013 season for $6 million.

It was a tough year for Reid in 2012 on and off the field. Along with the Eagles’ struggles, the coach also lost his son, Garrett, who died of an apparent drug overdose during training camp in August. Reid took just two days off from training camp after his son died, telling reporters that was what his son would have wanted him to do.

The younger Reid, who spent part of the 2003 season as an offensive tackle with the Vaqueros, had been working with the Eagles as an unofficial camp assistant to the team's strength and conditioning coach at the Eagles' training site at Lehigh in Bethlehem, Pa.

“Andy certainly didn’t forget how to coach,” Sartoris said. “He just went through some tough times with other things that he didn’t have any control of. But that’s a part of being a head coach, there are things that happen that that are just part of the business.”

Reid was one of seven NFL coaches fired Monday, the day after the final week of the regular season.